All posts by ruthsoaper

Word of the Week – Week #16

Reflections, Word of the Week

Hello and Welcome.

Our word for this week is decimate.

According to Merriam Wester the word decimate means:

1: to select by lot and kill every tenth man

2: to exact a tax of 10 percent

3a: to reduce drastically especially in number

b: to cause great destruction or harm to

Today as I was pondering the fate of our cherry crop after last nights freezing temperatures this word came to mind. Over the years I have repeatedly heard my husband talk of people misusing this word. He would explain that while others were using it to describe total destruction of something, it really only meant a reduction of 10% or one-tenth.

While looking at the Merriam Webster page (linked above) I noticed that my husband was not the only one who saw this word as being misused or perhaps abused. At the bottom of that web page there is a comments section where many people have voiced their disapproval of it being used as definitions 3a&b. There were so many comments in fact that Merriam Webster found it necessary to write a separate explanation or justification.

I do understand that word meanings, especially in the English language, evolve over time and quite honestly I sometimes find it frustrating. In the case of the word decimate the definitions cover such a broad range (10% to 100%) that I wonder if it is even worth using. There are many synonyms that could be used instead.

Our cherry tree, however, might be an exception. At this time I can safely say that the freezing temperatures will decimate our crop because I expect our loss will be somewhere between 10% and 100%. In other words we just don’t know.

How do you feel about word definitions changing?

Are there any specific word changes that have bothered you?

Asparagus, Daffodils and More

Asaparagus, Cherries, Daffodils, Flowers, Forsythia, Primrose, Reflections, spring

It’s an early spring here in Michigan. This week my husband noticed asparagus shoots popping up. I didn’t get any photos of it but I wanted to give a heads up to anyone living in our area who grows asparagus or hunts wild asparagus to watch for it. As I looked back over previous posts I noticed that in the past few years our asparagus has started coming around the last week of April or the first week in May so it’s two to three weeks early this year. I didn’t want anyone to miss out.

I did, however, get lots of photos of daffodils and some others things that are blossoming.

There is so much to love about daffodils.

They are a reliable, low maintenance, perennial.

They will grow in full sun

or wooded, wet, shady areas.

An early bloomer, they come in a variety of shades that say “Welcome to Spring”.

They also vary in size.

They continue to multiply each year so eventually they may need to be thinned by digging some up. The best time to dig the bulbs is in the fall. They can then be transplanted or given to friends.

They grow in harmony with other plants so keeping the area weed free is not really necessary.

We didn’t wait until fall to transplant these. Instead we dug them with a good size root ball (keeping the soil surrounding the roots/bulbs intact). We then dug a hole large enough for the entire root ball, placed the plant in the soil and filled in around it. You can see they brought some of their companions (mayapples) along with them.

Last but not least they top the list of being deer and rabbit resistant.

It’s kind of hidden amongst other plants but my primrose has more blossoms this year than it has since I first planted it. I am so happy with it that yesterday I picked up two more of these plants (one with purple blossoms and one with yellow) to keep this one company. (I should not be trusted in a store that sells garden plants. LOL!)

The forsythia have been in full boom for over a week now. It seems they are much earlier than last year because when I looked back through my photos my album from April 20, 2020 has photos of them beginning to blossom.

They create an impressive array as the backdrop for the pond. From a distance neighbors and passers-by enjoy the blast of color amidst the greens and browns that monopolize the landscape this time of year.

But walking along the berm surrounded by these brilliant yellow blossoms is an experience to behold. It felt like a natural high with my husband using the term uplifting to describe it while I found it breathtaking.

The cherry tree next to our deck began blossoming the week and while it’s delightful to see it is way too early. With snow and freezing temperatures in the forecast for next week we can expect a less than optimal cherry crop this year. I’m not ready to write it off completely though. I will hold out hope for a least one homemade cherry pie or crisp. 🙂

Thanks for visiting. What’s blooming in your area?

Word of the Week- Week #15

Reflections, Word of the Week

Hello and welcome!

It’s time for another word of the week (maybe a little past time).

I was actually working on a different word (that is taking longer than I planned) but it’s getting late so I was wishing I could just reuse last week’s post. Couldn’t I just say, “ditto” I thought.

Thus our word of the week is Ditto.

Merriam Webster has four entries for the this word:

Definition of ditto

 (Entry 1 of 4 )1: a thing mentioned previously or above —used to avoid repeating a word —often symbolized by inverted commas or apostrophes 2: a ditto mark

Definition of ditto (Entry 2 of 4): having the same characteristics : SIMILAR

Definition of ditto (Entry 3 of 4): as before or aforesaid: in the same manner

Definition of ditto (Entry 4 of 4) 1: to repeat the action or statement of 2: to copy (something, such as printed matter) on a duplicator

Now that I think about it I would like to ditto last week’s weather as well.

Thanks for reading 🙂

Crochet Season Comes To A Close

crochet, Reflections

As the days get warmer and longer the amount of time I spend crocheting is greatly reduced. I can’t say that I don’t do any crocheting during the spring and summer because my hook and yarn are always at the ready and you never know when I’ll just pick it up and I do have one project in mind that I would like to get done before fall.

Any way let me show you the last few projects I have done. None of these really fit into the “quickie” crochet category that a couple of my previous projects did.

I made some sunflower pot holders that I gave to my daughters for Easter. I think they look better in real life than they do in the picture. I think I will be making some more of these since I did not keep any for myself.

Here is a link for the sunflower pot holder pattern.

The next project is one I worked on most of the winter. It is and afghan I made for my daughter Tina. Like the pot holders, I don’t think the photos do this justice. The colors were much more vibrant than they appear in the photo.

In the above photo it is folded in quarters. I took a photo of it opened up but for some reason it would not download to my computer.

My husband loved this blanket and whenever he would see me working on it he would ask me when I was going to have his blanket done. I guess I’ll have to make another one for him.

There is no pattern for this. It is simply double crochet stitches done in a square. I loved using the self striping yarn.

I did add a shell stitch boarder for the very last round to give it a touch of class.

The afghan was not a difficult crochet project at all – just time consuming because of it’s size.

The last project, despite being small, is one of the most difficult crochet projects I have ever done. I had actually started this project two or three times in the past only to become frustrated and give up.

This time I completed it. It came out bigger than I like for a book mark (about 4×6 inches) and the stitches are not as uniform as they should be so I am trying again using a smaller hook. I did apply a coating of clear craft glue to this so it will hold it’s shape. I do have a link to this pattern saved somewhere on my computer so if any of my crochet friends would like to give it a try just leave me a comment and I’ll dig it up for you.

Thanks for visiting and have a great day. 🙂

Word of the Week – Week # 14

Reflections, Word of the Week

Hello and Welcome!

It’s hard for me to believe that we are already more than one-forth of the way through 2021.

Our word of the week, or actually phrase of the week, is Tempus Fugit.

According to Merriam-Webster tempus fugit is a Latin phrase meaning time flies.

On Easter Sunday as I sat in our living room with my Aunt Donna and my two youngest daughters looking through a box full of family photos this phrase came to mind repeatedly. Spanning 5 decades these photos took me back to various periods or events of my life, many seeming like they were but a short while ago. It was a fun day of reminiscing and telling the girls stories of times and events before they were born. I was again reminded how important it is to live in the moment.

Thanks for reading.